A video that purports to show how Chick-fil-A makes its lemonade has gone viral.
The video, found here, was posted to TikTok on Tuesday by niyy (@bigniyyyyy), an alleged Chick-fil-A employee. So far, the post has received more than 220,000 views and over 15,000 likes.
"Make Chick-fil-A lemonade with me," read the video's text overlay.
At the beginning of the 34-second clip, the TikToker pours pre-packaged "lemon juice with pulp" into a tub. She then adds sugar and water and proceeds to mix the lemonade with a whisk for the remainder of the video.
"Y'all love Chick-fil-A lemonade so much," she wrote in the post's caption, along with two "nauseated face" emojis.
Viewers had mixed reactions to the video. Many argued that there was nothing wrong with the process.
"I don't understand what's wrong with it," wrote raexlyn. "Lemonade mix, water and sugar. Is that not how [you] make it?"
"Was this supposed to change my [outlook] on it?" asked Reccetheman.
AYYOTK added, "I see no problems here."
However, some commenters—including those claiming to be former Chick-fil-A employees—were shocked that the TikToker didn't have to juice any lemons.
"I thought it was fresh," wrote chinkkkk.
"So it's not made with fresh lemons!" exclaimed nafieshazhane.
"Dang this is how they make it now. When I worked there they used to squeeze the lemons fresh," said _graceafia.
Others were simply bothered by the use of tap water.
"Only thing wrong is the sink water," said MuvaBadgirl.
"Not tap water," commented $HAYNA.
In an emailed statement to Newsweek, Chick-fil-A Inc. explained that the juicing process takes place "outside of the restaurant" to keep up with customer demand.
"Chick-fil-A Lemonade is one of our most popular beverages, and to help ensure our lemonade is always available for our guests, we extract lemon juice outside of the restaurant using state-of-the-art equipment, which helps operators and their team members keep up with demand," read the statement.
"Rest assured, we haven't compromised on quality, this process still uses the highest quality lemons available to produce only real lemon juice. While our process has evolved, our regular Chick-fil-A Lemonade is prepared daily and still contains just three simple ingredients: real lemon juice, sugar and water," the statement continued.
The company added that its employees use filtered water in its restaurants.
"Additionally, each restaurant is equipped with a filtration system and that water is used daily to prepare our tea and lemonade and wash our fresh produce."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Sara Santora is a Newsweek reporter based in Florida. Her focus is reporting on viral social media posts and trends. ... Read more
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